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House Officially Apologizes to Chinese Americans

Update, 7 p.m: The House of Representatives has officially apologized to Chinese Americans for the Chinese Exclusion Act and other laws that discriminated against them.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., main sponsor of the bill, said that Congress has approved only four other apologies in the past 25 years. Chu's grandfather came to the U.S. in 1904.

"It is for my grandfather and for all Chinese Americans who were told for six decades by the U.S. government that the land of the free wasn't open to them, that we must pass this resolution," Chu said on the House floor. "We must finally and formally acknowledge these ugly laws that were incompatible with America's founding principles. We must express the sincere regret that Chinese Americans deserve."

Original post: American history has its dark chapters, and the House of Representatives will vote tonight on whether to apologize for one of them.

If approved, the House will officially apologize for a litany of laws that "adversely affected
people of Chinese origin in the United States because of their
ethnicity." The most notable among such laws was the Chinese Exclusion Act, first passed in 1882, which restricted Chinese immigration to the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The exclusion act, among other immigration rules, "enshrined in law the exclusion of the Chinese from the democratic
process and the promise of American freedom," the House bill reads. It also notes that the
Chinese Exclusion Act undermined the U.S.-Chinese alliance during World
War II, as it was used by America's enemies as evidence of anti-Chinese
sentiment.

According to the bill, its passage can't be used to make claims against the U.S. government for damages.